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Hưng Đạo Đại Vương ba lần đại thắng quân Nguyên-Mông Gia-Đình HQHH/NSW biên-soạn Sydney, August 2002
1 - Đánh Thắng Quân Mông-Cổ
Lần Thứ Nhất (1257)
Trích "Tưởng nhớ công-đức Hưng-Đạo Đại-Vương" do Gia-Đình HQHH/NSW biên-soạn
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Trần Hưng Đạo
In 1984, a forum of historians from around the world, held in London, England, nominated Trần Hưng Đạo as one of the top 10 generals in world history. In Vietnam, he - along with the Trung sisters - is worshiped as a folk god in Vietnamese folklore and considered as the best general ever in Vietnamese history.
Trần Quốc Tuấn had just been born just when the Trần Dynasty overtook the Lý Dynasty in 1225 AD, when the last Lý monarch Lý Chiêu Hoàng Đế abdicated the throne in favor of her husband Trần Thái Tông (Tran Canh), many in the Lý royal family blamed the Trần for usurping and in particular, Trần Thủ Độ its architect. Trần Quốc Tuấn was born to Grand Duke Trần Liễu, the older brother of the new emperor, Trần Thái Tông. That same year, Trần Liễu being the Empress` brother-in-law at the time was forced to give up his wife to his younger brother the Emperor Thái Tông under pressure from Emperial Regent Trần Thủ Độ in order to solidify Trần family`s role in the imperial government. Trần Liễu harbored a grudge against his uncle Trần Thủ Độ. Trần Quốc Tuấn was Trần Liễu's real son from his original wife, both father and son had very close relationship. Liễu would find great tutors to teach his son Trần Quốc Tuấn with the hope of one day becoming a great leader of Đại Việt and regaining his family's honor. On his deathbed, Liễu told his son to avenge what he felt was personal shame forced upon him by the Imperial Regent.
In 1285, Kublai Khan demanded passage through the Kingdom of Đại Việt (in northern Vietnam) for his Yuan army on their invasion of the kingdom of Champa. When Đại Việt`s Emperor Trần Nhân Tông refused, the Mongol army, led by Prince Toghan, attacked Đại Việt and seized the capital Thăng Long. The Vietnamese retreated to the south after burning off most of their crops and facilities. Trần Hưng Đạo and other generals escorted the Royal Court, staying just ahead of the Mongol army in hot pursuit. When the Mongol army had been worn down with tropical diseases and lack of supplies, Trần Hưng Đạo launched a counter-offensive. Most of the battles were on the waterfronts, where the Mongols could not use their cavalry strength. Mongol commander Sogetu of the southern front was killed in the battle. In their withdrawal from Đại Việt, the Mongols were also attacked by the Hmong and Yao minorities in the northern regions.
During the first stage, the Mongols quickly defeated most of the Đại Việt troups, stationed along the border. Prince Toghan`s fleet devastated most of the force of General Trần Khánh Dư in Vân Đồn. Right before that, Prince Ariq-Qaya had led his calvary to attack and capture Phú Lương and Đại Than, two important border stations in the north of Đại Việt. This ground force later met up with Prince Toghan`s fleet in Vân Đồn. King Trần Nhân Tông called back General Trần Khánh Dư for court-martial, but this general delayed his return and regrouped his force in Vân Đồn. The calvary and fleet of Prince Toghan continue to advance to Thăng Long (today`s Hanoi), Đại Việt`s capital. Unfortunately, the trailing supply fleet of Prince Toghan, arriving at Vân Đồn right after that, was ambushed and captured by the remaining forces of General Trần Khánh Dư.
This news together with the news that General Trần Hưng Đạo had recapture Đại Than in the north, sent the fast advancing Mongol forces into chaos. Guerrila tactics by the Vietnamese also started to cause a great deal of casualties to the Mongols. But the Mongols kept advancing to Thăng Long, which was already abandoned by Đại Việt's king. The following battle results were mixed: the Mongols won at Yên Hưng and Long Hưng but lost in the sea of Đại Bàng. Eventually, Prince Toghan decided to withdraw his army: he would led the ground force through Nội Bàng while his fleet commander, Omar would direct the fleet back through Bạch Đằng River. The Mongol fleet however had no idea of an unconventional trap already set by General Trần Hưng Đạo on Bạch Đằng River. Trần Hưng Đạo, for months before that, had his soldiers and peasants place huge steel-tipped wooden stakes in some waters of Bạch Đằng River. During the retreat of Omar, the Vietnamese used small craft to aggrevate and lure the Mongol vessels to those waters, in what first appeared to be a victorious pursuit of the Mongols. As the tide on Bạch Đằng River receded, the Mongol vessels got stuck and sunk by those embedded steel-tipped stakes. The Vietnamese led by Trần Hưng Đạo burned off almost 400 Mongol vessels and attack ships on this river. The entire Mongol fleet was destroyed, and Omar was captured and executed.
The ground force of Prince Toghan was more fortunate. They were ambushed along the road through Nội Bàng, but managed to escape back to China by dividing their forces into smaller retreating groups.
(In all their conquests, only two nations managed to repel/defeat the Mongols. The Mongols` first invasion of Japan ended in a retreat after the Battle of Bun`ei in 1274. The second attempt was cancelled following the destruction of the fleet by a famous typhoon, called kamikaze (divine wind) in 1281. Đại Việt's General Trần Hưng Đạo defeated the Mongols in two campaigns.).
General Trần Hưng Đạo brilliantly led an army of poorly equipped volunteers and peasant conscripts against the hordes of Mongols at the peak of their power. Trần Hưng Đạo defeated them by exploiting their traditional "raiding" style of warfare which relied on fast cavalry maneuverability. He is famous for arguably inventing "hit and run" warfare. Trần Hưng Đạo was a master of strategic geographical war fighting using advantageous landscapes to stage battles in places such as dense forests or on waterfronts where enemy calvary is mostly ineffective.
Most notably, his speech "Hich Tuong Si" (Call of Soldiers), addressing his soldiers at the beginning of the First Mongol Invasion.
Being a member of the royal family, Trần Hưng Đạo was a man of intellect and was an accomplished poet. From a young age, he was very fond of classical Chinese literature and was very well-versed in "The Art of War" by the famous Sun Tzu. Poetry was his first and true passion and would have pursued that course had not for the multiple Yuan Mongol invasion attempts into Dai Viet that spanned over 60 years. Military became his recourse and it turned out to be his most successful accomplishments.
For his military brilliance in defending Đại Việt during his lifetime, The Emperor bestowed Trần Hưng Đạo title of Hưng Đạo Đại Vuong (Grand Duke Hung Dao) for his military contributions. In 1300 AD, he died of natural causes at the age of 73 and his body was cremated and his ashes were poured under an oak tree in his royal family estate near Thang Long (modern-day Hanoi) according to his will. The Viets intended to buried him in a lavish royal tomb and ceremony upon his death, but he would declined it in favor of a simple, humble private ceremony. Source: link
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Tran Hung Dao
CNN A brilliant and innovative military strategist, Tran Hung Dao looms large in the history of Vietnam. A nephew of King Tran Thai Ton of the Tran dynasty, he became legend with his command of the Vietnamese military in defeating two Mongol invasions.
Tran Hung Dao was named commander of Vietnam's armed forces as the Mongols, under Kublai Khan, looked to expand their empire from China in the early 1280s. As the Mongols began moving into northern Vietnam in 1283, Tran Hung Dao gave a famous speech to his troops, calling for national unity and resistance. He adopted a defensive position as the Mongols moved in, then employed guerrilla warfare and scorched-earth tactics to set up a counter-offensive that drove the Mongols back into China.
When the Mongols returned in 1287, Tran and his forces again took a defensive posture. Once the Mongols had occupied the capital, the Vietnamese forces went on the offensive. This time, Tran borrowed a strategy from a 10th century Vietnamese warrior by planting iron-tipped spears deep in the Bach Dang River, then luring the Mongol fleet into battle. The Mongol boats were all sunk or captured.
Tran Hung Dao's legacy of guerrilla warfare against a more powerful enemy was a model for 20th-century communist guerrillas. And his call to the whole of Vietnam for national unity and resistance inspired the North Vietnamese during the Indochina wars of 1946-75. Source: link
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Thấy
nước ta vẫn ngoan-cố không chịu thần-phục, năm 1284 Nguyên-Thế-Tổ
( Hốt-Tất-Liệt Đại-Hãn ) sai Thái-Tử Thoát-Hoan (Togan) cùng với
các tướng Toa-Đô (Sagatore ) và Ô-Mã-Nhi đem 50 vạn quân giả vờ
mượn đường đi đánh Chiêm-Thành, nhưng thực ra là đánh nước ta. Vua
Trần-Nhân-Tông biết rõ ý-đồ thâm-độc của địch, nên cho triệu-tập
Hội-Nghị Diên-Hồng. Mọi người đều đồng-thanh: "Thượng hạ đồng
dục giả thắng" (trên dưới một lòng quyết-thắng). Nhất là trước
khi nhận lãnh 20 vạn quân chống giặc, Trần-Hưng-Đạo khẳng-khái nói:
"Nếu Vua muốn hàng, xin hãy chém đầu Thần trước". Quân-sĩ
nức-lòng thích 2 chữ : "Sát-Đát" (giết Tartares) vào cánh
tay để biểu-dương ý-chí diệt thù.
Để
phục-hận 2 lần thua trận, năm 1287 Nguyên chúa lại sai Thoát-Hoan
với các tướng Ô-Mã-Nhi, Phàn-Tiếp, A-Bát-Xích, Áo-Lỗ-Xích đem 30
vạn quân tinh-nhuệ nhất theo hai đường bộ và biển tràn sang nước
ta. Lúc điều quân phát-xuất từ Hoá-Giang ( Thanh-Hoá ), Trần-Hưng-Đạo
hô quân-sĩ trỏ tay xuống sông mà thề :
Trần
Hưng Đạo (1228-1300) was a Vietnamese Grand Commander-in-Chief during
the Trần Dynasty. Born as Trần Quốc Tuấn (陳國峻), he commanded the
Đại Việt (Dai Viet) armies that repelled two major Mongol invasions
in the 13th century. His multiple victories over the mighty Mongol
Yuan Dynasty under Kublai Khan are considered among the greatest
military feats in world history. General Trần Hưng Đạo's military
brilliance and prowess is reflected in his many treatises on warfare
and is a one of the most accomplished generals in history. He is
also one of a very few generals in history to have never lost a
single battle or war under his command.
In
1287, Kublai Khan again sent Prince Toghan to lead another army
into Đại Việt. The Mongol forces consist of infantry, calvary and
a full fleet with the total strength estimated at 500,000 men according
to the original Vietnamese history. Later Western historians put
the Mongol force at a more modest number of some 70,000 to 100,000.
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